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Contemporary Indian non-dualism (Philosophy) (Spezielle Gebiete der Digitalen Medien (MW))
Seminar
Kurs Nr.: DM.B-MA-2 (MW)
Semester: WS 2021/22
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Non-western Spiritual Traditions (Philosophy) (Spezielle Gebiete der Digitalen Medien (MW))
Seminar
Kurs Nr.: DM.B-MA-2 (MW)
Semester: WS 2021/22
Spirituality and mysticism can be understood in different ways, but here we regard them, according to the German philosopher Ernst Tugendhat, as constituting a fundamental anthropological feature and as a necessary condition for the flourishing of human beings, whether individually or collectively. It is not surprising that the crisis of our time - expressed in different dimensions: political, moral, religious, environmental, existential - has resulted in a return to the search for a spiritual meaning in existence, which has often taken the form of a search for insights from non-Western traditions about things which have become particularly elusive to the West.
In this seminar we will address four great non-Western spiritual traditions, namely, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Universal Sufism and elements of the spirituality of the indigenous peoples of America. The goal is to approach these traditions and their respective texts as individuals interested in our own spirituality and not only from a merely academic angle. To accomplish this, drawing on Plato and Foucault, we will begin by asking ourselves how the concept of spirituality from a Western perspective is to be understood. We will then move on to a careful reading of representative texts of each of the aforementioned traditions in order to gain a deeper understanding of their general ideas and their specific components. Finally, we will also try to establish bridges between these four traditions with the purpose of identifying the common and distinctive elements of human spirituality. We will read texts by Kodo Sawaki, Jalaluddin Rumi, Hazrat Inayat Khan, of North American indigenous chiefs, such as "Chief Seattle", "Sitting Bull", "Tatanga Mani" and "White Cloud", and the [i]Hua Hu Ching[/i], a text preserved in the oral Taoist tradition, among others. The syllabus with a detailed list of the texts will be provided in the first session.
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Meditation and Mindfulness: Theory and Practice (Philosophy) (Media Theory)
Seminar
Kurs Nr.: DM.M-MT
Semester: WS 2021/22
In the last 30 or 40 years, meditative or mindfulness practices, whose most recognized origin is usually traced to eastern traditions, have generated much interest in different areas of Western thought and life, including neurosciences and cognitive sciences, mental health, education and even business. Laypeople, too, have shown a keen interest in learning these types of practices and in incorporating them into their lives for different reasons, from spiritual and personal development to improved performance in work, production, arts, and sports.
In this seminar we will seek to understand, first of all, what the concept of mindfulness refers to, and how we can understand the idea of a meditative practice in general. We will do so through a phenomenological approach that allows us to describe, with reference to our own internal experience, the different attentional and attitudinal configurations relevant to the understanding of the phenomenon of mindfulness. To this end, we will be assisted by the reading of some influential texts about meditation and mindfulness by authors from the Buddhist tradition (Thich Nhat Hanh, Kosho Uchiyama, Pema Chödrön, Jack Kornfield), also incorporating some general background from Western scientific research (Jon Kabat-Zinn, Dan Siegel, Andrew Olendzki, James Carmody). At the same time, the seminar will allocate an important part of each session to the guided practice of different forms of meditation, so that students can become familiar with them, thereby having an experiential basis for the discussion of the texts to be addressed. This seminar is aimed at students who, without having knowledge or experience in the practice of meditation, wish to get started. But it is also aimed at those who already have some theoretical and experiential background and yet want to deepen their practice and knowledge through a conversation and joint practice around the concrete meaning of meditation as a spiritual practice. The syllabus with a detailed list of the texts will be provided in the first session.
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Mindfulness: in memoriam Thich Nhat Hanh (Special Topics in Digital Media/Media Theory)
Seminar
Kurs Nr.: DM.M-MA-2/M-MD
Semester: SS 2022
This is a seminar about mindfulness, and it has both a theoretical and practical character. Its theoretical aspect will be centred on the figure of Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022), Thien Buddhist monk, who is often named the “father of mindfulness”, because of the rol he had in presenting and spreading buddhist practices, and specifically mindfulness, to the Western world. “Thay”, as his followers fondly called him, passed away in January of this year. This seminar is thought as a homage to the beloved master in which we will practice the path of mindfulness he walked and taught, along with reading some of his most influential works.
From their study and the discussions held during the sessions, we will seek to understand, first of all, what the concept of mindfulness refers to, and how we can understand the idea of a meditative practice in general. We will do so through a phenomenological approach that allows us to describe, with reference to our own internal experience, the different attentional and attitudinal configurations relevant to the understanding of the phenomenon of mindfulness. At the same time, the seminar will allocate an important part of each session to the guided practice of different forms of meditation, so that students can become familiar with them, thereby having an experiential basis for the discussion of the subjects and texts to be addressed. This seminar is aimed at students who, without having knowledge or experience in the practice of mindfulness, wish to get started. But it is also aimed at those who already have some theoretical and experiential background and yet want to deepen their practice and knowledge through a conversation and joint practice around the concrete meaning of mindfulness as a spiritual practice. The syllabus with a detailed list of the texts will be provided in the first session.
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Contemporary Indian non-dualism II (Spezielle Gebiete der Digitalen Medien (MW))
Seminar
Kurs Nr.: DM.B-MA-2 (MW)
Semester: SS 2022
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Emotional life and spirituality (Special Topics in Digital Media/Interdisciplinary/Free Electives)
Seminar
Kurs Nr.: DM.M-MA-2/B-MA-2(MW)
Semester: SS 2022
Of the various aspects that make up our complex human existence, one of the most basic and central, as well as one with the greatest impact on our well-being, is undoubtedly that of emotional life. However, it is likely that no aspect of such importance has been neglected as much as this in our formal education – often, focused almost exclusively on our intellectual development.
This seminar will approach the subject of our felt and emotional existence and its relationship to spirituality. We will start by elaborating a working idea of spirituality in order to show that at its very core lies implicit a general idea of how we should relate to our emotions and feelings. When we speak of spirituality, we are not thinking here of a specific tradition, but of a realm that is always to be discovered in a direct and intimate way by each individual, and which will normally be related to certain elements common to various traditions, which we might call spiritual truth or dharma. The notion of dharma used here refers to certain universal features of human existence, to which we must always relate concretely, with different effects on our well-being. Several of these traits are directly related to our emotional life, so that a correct understanding of them, as well as their proper management, are decisive to our chances of being well. Thus, with a concrete idea of spirituality in mind, we will deal with various general topics, such as the central role of pleasure, pain, attachment and avoidance in human life; the dynamic relationship between thought, beliefs and emotions; the inevitability of frustration, its effects on our psychic life and the possibility of its integration; the distinction between pain and suffering, its foundations and implications for well-being; the possibilities of repression, acting-out and letting-be with regard to emotions, etc. We will also concentrate on the study of some specific emotive states such as fear, anger, and love. All this will be done through a guided conversation session by session, as well as through readings from texts by renowned authors related to spirituality, such as Pema Chödrön, Michel Foucault, Claudio Naranjo, Jack Kornfield, Friedrich Nietzsche and Plato. Last but not least, an important part of the seminar will be dedicated to certain practical exercises designed to complement the conversational and analytical work that will be done in the sessions. The syllabus with a detailed list of the texts will be provided in the first session.
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Ontology, art and existence in Nietzsche’s early philosophy
Seminar
Kurs Nr.: IntL.07
Semester: WS 2022/23
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Phenomenology of the meditative experience: a practical course
Seminar
Kurs Nr.: IntL.08
Semester: WS 2022/23
Meditative practices from various spiritual traditions - such as mindfulness or zazen - have arrived in the Western world making a considerable impact, probably because while the Western world has experienced unparalleled technological development in recent centuries, such a development is lacking in many crucial aspects of individual and collective existence, concerning morality, psychological well-being, spirituality and a deeper meaning of life, among others. However, a clear description and conceptual articulation of the essential elements of meditation are not always easy to find, which in turn contributes to the fact that many people remain skeptical and reluctant to the practice, because of what is felt as a vacuum in the theoretical foundation of the practice, a lack of scientific validity, or simply because of a lack of comprehension of what meditation is about. Phenomenology is a way of philosophical work which focuses on the conceptual elaboration of the sense in which we pretheoretically experience the world, as well as the possible modifications that we can and do carry out from it. The conceptual elaboration takes the character of a description of the phenomena that are given to the sight just as they are shown, trying not to introduce, as operatively valid, presuppositions that are not accredited in the donation of phenomena.
This course has a double character. First of all, it is a practical course: in order to be able to theoretically thematise the meditative experience, we must be able to immerse ourselves fully in that very experience. For this reason, in each session we will dedicate an important part of it to practice together different forms of meditation that will allow us to highlight different aspects of the meditative experience which will serve as the ground for the phenomenological and conceptual developments we will try to articulate. We take as a given that it is only on the basis of this direct relationship with the meditative experience that the effort of achieving conceptual clarity about it can have real meaning, validity and utility. Secondly, the course has a theoretical character: it is not only about being able to live the experience of meditation, but also about being able to carry out a joint investigation on how to reliably articulate its most important features, so as to achieve a more precise understanding of them that can, in turn, help us to deepen that same experience and, more generally, to better comprehend the dynamics of our own mind, which also seems essential for a genuine psychological well-being. Through phenomenological tools, the work will focus on showing comparatively how meditative practice introduces fundamental attentional, interpretative and egological modifications in the way in which we regularly experience life prior to any theory, due to the general tendencies of the human mind that can be directly recognised by reflecting on our own experience as human beings. We will include readings and analysis from European modern philosophy, from non-dualist teachings of the East and from prominent contemporary teachers of meditation, as well as aspects of the phenomenology of peace of mind developed by the teacher in charge of the course. The syllabus with a detailed list of the chosen texts will be provided in the first session.
